


Escape

by Paige242



Category: Superman & Lois (TV 2021)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 21:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paige242/pseuds/Paige242
Summary: Sarah reflects on her relationship with Jordan Kent.(Sarah’s perspective on episodes 1-3, with a little flash forward at the end).
Relationships: Sarah Cushing/Jordan Kent
Comments: 13
Kudos: 32





	Escape

**Author's Note:**

> I’m way more on board with Sarah this week and wanted to explore her perspective a bit. Let me know what you think!

Maybe she had always known that he was her escape. 

Sarah had never forgotten that summer when the Kent boys had stayed in Smallville. She had been seven— too young for a proper crush, but something about him had struck her, even then. He was quiet, but he made her laugh more than anyone ever had before. They seemed to get along from the second they met— spending time together felt easy. And (although it was cliche to admit it) she had liked his eyes. Piercing aquamarine, a shade unlike any she had ever seen. 

He had crossed her mind more than he should have after that. Anytime she heard her parents mention the Kent farm, her ears had perked up, hoping to hear that Martha was getting some visitors soon. 

But their paths hadn’t crossed again and, slowly, she had tried to set that all aside. It was silly to think about a boy she hardly knew and the older she got the more she realized that she’d filled her head with silly fantasies. 

She’d probably just been drawn to the thought of an exciting big-city boy. 

It seemed more pragmatic to settle for what was around her so she’d tried dating some of the locals. Sean had asked her out and she’d said yes. It hadn’t brought her any excitement, but her mom had been thrilled and her friends had told her this was very exciting. He was handsome, from a solid farming family. She knew exactly what she was getting and, yeah, they did have some fun together. 

She hadn’t thought about Jordan while she was with him but the unhappiness within her had been impossible to ignore. She’d tried to smile but she wasn’t her mother. 

She couldn’t pretend that well. 

It really wasn’t Sean’s fault. He was just a simple guy who was happy with his simple life. There was nothing wrong with that. It just wasn’t her, though. She knew she was getting way ahead of herself, but when she pictured a future with him she’d felt sick to her stomach. 

Sarah had always hated trying to picture her future. Her father was big on small town pride, even the thought of going somewhere else was blasphemy in their house. But thinking of an entire life spent here made her feel like she was being crushed from the inside out.

She’d tried to escape once...

She’d woken up. In the hospital. Knowing that she’d made a mistake by allowing her impulses to take her that far. 

She wasn’t going to do it again but the haze around her persisted. 

Sarah had muddled on, going through the motions in a place that felt so hopelessly grey. She cheered. She hung out with Sean. She pretended to have fun with her friends. 

Sometimes, she felt like a condescending jerk. But it really wasn’t that she thought she was better than these people. It was just an unfortunate reality— she simply didn’t fit. 

She pulled away from her parents because something had to give, and their misery seemed to serve as a constant reminder of her grim future. But, to any onlooker, she would have seemed okay. A typical Smallville teen. 

When she’d seen him at the funeral that day, she hadn’t expected to have such a strong reaction. She was a master at masking her feelings now, so she had stood calmly and offered simple condolences. All the while, her heart had been pounding in her chest. 

His brother was the confident one. Outgoing and suave, and some might say more traditionally “handsome” in that all-American way. But that had never really been her thing. 

Jordan was one-hundred percent her type. She’d sometimes tried to picture what he might look like now and, as it turned out, she had been pretty accurate. The same dark brown locks, the shy smile. He was much taller than her now and she could see that puberty was doing him some favours too. 

It was working for him. 

And those eyes. She wasn’t some stupid heroine in one of her mom’s romance novels, but damn— there was just something about his eyes. They made her think of far off places, places she would probably never see. 

Sarah had done her best to reign herself back in. She was a realist, after all. She was with Sean, and the twins were only in town for the funeral. There was no point dwelling on something that would never be. 

Still, for the first time in a long while she had felt alive. 

She’d casually given him her number, secretly amused by the wide eyed looked she’d received when she’d asked for his phone. 

Everything had gone to hell after that— the accident had put a serious damper on things and for a few minutes she had feared the worst. Thankfully, somehow...impossibly...the boys were okay. 

She’d laughed that night, for the first time in a while, when he’d texted her a Vulcan salute. She loved that he was a huge nerd, and she secretly liked a bit of sci-fi too. The thought of alien life had always fascinated her. 

When they talked about the barn incident at breakfast the next morning, her parents hadn’t seemed overly surprised. But Sarah had seen it. She’d been the only other person there. He’s fallen far and hard and those pipes had fallen with a ground-shaking force. The fact that Jordan had walked away with nothing but a mild concussion just didn’t sit right. But, like most things in her life, she tried to repress the thought.

It had been a relief to see him at the bonfire that night. She’d been with a few of her friends but the second he’d hopped out of the car her stomach had been filled with a distracting flutter and she had gone off with hardly a goodbye. She’d had no idea where Sean was hanging out but she also hadn’t cared. 

She’d needed an escape. 

Sarah usually hated when most people pried into her personal business but, for some reason, Jordan was different. She didn’t mind discussing her mental health with him (she told him things she’d never told anyone outside her family) and it felt good knowing he’d struggled as well. Maybe that’s why she had always been so drawn to him— maybe she’d sensed this shared bond all along. He wasn’t like everyone else. She felt safe with his gaze locked on hers. 

Then, all of a sudden, he’d kissed her. 

The world around her seemed to stop. She’d felt his lips on hers, bold and soft, and it felt like everything else simply faded away. For the briefest of seconds, she hadn’t been at a party in Smallville anymore, surrounded by the same old people doing the same old thing. There had only been him and her, floating up towards the clouds. 

But then...no. 

She’d snapped back to reality in one terrible instant and found herself pushing him away. 

“I have a boyfriend.” 

It was true. She wasn’t that kind of girl, no matter how mundane her relationship might feel. She couldn’t do this. 

For the second time in two days, everything had gone to hell. Sean had appeared, enraged. Then Jon had arrived, fiercely protective of his brother. Before she knew what was happening, the scene descended into madness. Teenage boys really could be idiots sometimes. She had tried to pull Sean away but she was outnumbered. 

If it hadn’t been for the explosion, she didn’t know how long it would have gone on. In a weird way, she had been grateful for the fire. 

She could have sworn that she saw a flash of red right before it happened. 

When her mom had mentioned that the Kent’s were moving back to Smallville she had failed to mask her smile. 

Unfortunately, her mom had caught it and looked over with a knowing twinkle in her eye. “Jonathan seems like a nice boy, doesn’t he?” She’d asked, eliciting a growl of disapproval from her daughter, “quite the young gentleman, he reminds me of Clark at that age.” 

God, her mother really was clueless most of the time. Sure, Jon was a nice person. Friendly, fun to hang out with. But that’s not whose face she had been seeing every night as she struggled to fall asleep. 

It had been a pretty big disappointment when she had caught sight of Jon walking into school alone on that first day. He’d told her that Jordan was sick, but something about that felt a little off. And he’d seemed perfectly fine when she’d seen him at the city council meeting later that night. 

Eventually, though, he had started showing up and she had done her best to steal quick chats in the hallway whenever she could. She knew Sean’s schedule and was kind of an expert at avoiding him. Still, whenever he stalked into a hallway and caught sight of them, she found herself tensing up and walking over to him like an obedient lapdog. 

She’d hated that. Since when had she been so weak? And why the hell did she feel like she owed him her loyalty after when he and his buddies had done to her friends? They’d started tormenting Jon now too, and she was fucking sick of it. 

By the second week of school she had been resolved and when she caught him alone in the staircase she had finally done it. He’d protested a bit. But not much, really. And she had felt zero regrets as she had turned and walked away. It really had been a long time coming. They’d both be better off. Maybe Sean could find himself a proper Smallville girl. Someone who wanted the spend the weekends hanging out in parking lots and watching football.

And she...

Well, she had been on a natural high after that. She’d quit cheer a few hours later, another thing she had been meaning to do for quite some time. Then she’d not so subtly waited outside of Jordan’s fifth period bio class, asking him if he wanted to grab some food at the cafe after school. 

She’d been so impulsive today. She wasn’t sure if she meant it as a date but, if he took it that way, she certainly wouldn’t have minded. 

He’d given her that same adorable ‘deer in the headlights’ look at the request but had then made a rather surprising confession. “I—um— I actually signed up for football practice after school. Any chance you’ll still be free at four?” 

She had no intention of going home to face her mom after their explosive day so she’d agreed, deciding to get a bit of studying done in the library while she waited. She’d hardly read a single word of her textbook, though. She couldn’t stop thinking about what could have possessed Jordan to try out for the team. He wasn’t that person. Was he even strong enough to take the other guys on? 

But when she’d met him and his brother out front later, he’d been beaming and a few of the other players had waved goodbye, making comments about the human bulldozer.

“Yeah, _human_ bulldozer,” She’d heard Jon mutter as he shot his brother a look. Jordan elbowed him in the side. Then they’d all set off. 

Sarah had felt freer than she had in a long time that afternoon. It was as if a weight had been lifted and she’d savoured her relaxing chat with the Kent boys. Mom had ruined it (of course) but she had still left feeling more hope than she had in a long time. She didn’t give a crap that everyone in the cafe was starring at them as they stormed out.

The next day, when Jordan had (adorably, nervously) asked her if she was going to come to the next football game she had found herself smiling up at him. He wanted her there and, even though she had never cared much about football, she wanted to be there too. 

She didn’t know where things were headed, but she knew that being with him made her feel things she had never felt before. He was different. 

Special. 

Sarah wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to say no to those eyes. 

xxxxxxx

_Seven years later_...

They’d met when they had been seven, kissed when they had been fourteen and now— at twenty one— he was literally offering her the world. 

“You can trust me, Sarah,” he said, reaching out his hand and offering her the shy smile she had always loved. 

She had stopped kidding herself a long time ago. She didn’t care if it was a romantic cliche, her heart had been his since the moment they’d met.

He had been her salvation and she had never once looked back. 

They were at Kansas State together now— he was studying chemistry while she’d chosen a course in graphic design. And they were currently on the roof of the science building, the night sky twinkling before them. 

Beckoning. 

She did trust him. Of course she did. He’d shared his biggest secrets with her and she knew he would always fight to keep her safe. 

“I know you’ve always wanted to see other places. I can take you anywhere you want to go.” 

It was a temping thought, of course it was. And she did want to go. It was just the actual flying that made her wary. He’d only been able to do it for a few months now and, while she knew he’d spent a lot of time training with his dad, it was still an unnerving thought. She had no trouble with planes, but soaring through the sky with nothing but his arms around her was a bit much, even for the girl who prided herself on her boldness.

“You won’t drop me?” She asked, knowing it was a stupid question. Still, she needed to hear it. 

Jordan laughed. “Sarah, I helped dad hold up an airplane last week,” he pointed out logically, “I’m not going to drop you.” 

She let out a sharp breath, squaring her shoulders as she worked up the nerve. 

She could see him starring at her hopefully, those striking eyes (kryptonian eyes) making her melt without an ounce of heat vision. 

“Fine,” she agreed, stomach fluttering with anticipation and apprehension, “but not far for now. Maybe just...up. To see how it feels.” 

“Sure,” he agreed, clearly pleased that she had agreed to anything at all. He generally wasn’t into showing off his powers (and still made disparaging jokes about his oddities at his own expense) but she could tell that he was proud of this most recent accomplishment. And yeah, she was curious. 

Jordan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and took a step towards her. She accepted his had this time, revelling in the warmth of it beneath her fingertips. 

“Put your feet on mine,” he said softly, “and put your hands on my shoulders.” She didn’t know how he knew the best position for this, but she secretly suspected he’d asked Clark. She briefly wondered how many times his parents had gone for midnight flights. 

“Alright, ready?” 

She nodded. He placed his strong arms around her waist and, the next thing she knew, they were slowly lifting off. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yes.” 

Her heart was beating rapidly but the thrill of it was far outweighing the fear. Jordan held her tight, and she knew she would be okay. 

Up they went. Further and further. The buildings of the university started to shrink, she could see roads and fields. Cities and towns. 

Smallville was probably out there somewhere, miles and miles away. It was hard to believe now that her life had once been confined to that tiny dot on the map. 

As they soared up towards the clouds, Jordan leaned down, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss as the stars twinkled around them. 

This was freedom. 


End file.
